


Camping

by Missanna444



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 12:06:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9384269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missanna444/pseuds/Missanna444
Summary: Mulder and Scully as kids. They go camping with their families. Mulder tries to convince Scully that aliens are real. She is as skeptical as ever.





	

Eleven year old Dana Scully and her mother were on a camping trip. When the trip had been suggested, the rest of the family seemed busy with other things, so it just ended up being Dana and her mother. She had begged Bill to go with them, since he was her older brother and she felt safe with him nearby, but he had some stupid school thing to go to that weekend. So, here was Dana, sitting at a picnic table near their campsite and swatting away pesky mosquitoes while her mother tried to start a campfire. 

 

“Dana?” Her mother asked, bringing Dana's thoughts back to reality. 

 

“Yeah, Mom?” She asked, squinting to see her mother in the darkness of the late evening. 

 

“There's another campsite just a little up the dirt road a little. Would you mind going over to ask if they have any firestarters? It's difficult to light the fire without them.” 

 

“Yeah, sure. I'll be right back.” Dana nodded and stood up, grabbing a flashlight. She was eager to finally have something to do, even if it meant being by herself in the woods for a minute or two. She wasn't really afraid of the woods, she'd just never had to face them by herself. There were woods behind her house, but she always explored those with the help of her brothers or Melissa. Never alone. Nervous as she was, she was excited to get to do something independently. Surely, she'd brag about this to Bill when she got home, telling him how she'd been in the woods all by herself. 

 

Tucking a strand of red-brown hair behind her ear, she turned on the flashlight and began walking down the narrow path. The next campsite wasn't far, and she could see that they already had a campfire going. Even if they didn't have firestarters, they could probably teach them how to make a fire without the assistance of the firestarters. As she approached, she saw that the fire was being tended to by a dark-haired boy, only a year or two older than Dana. 

 

“Excuse me?” Dana said as she got close enough to speak to him. The boy looked up. 

 

“Oh, hi!” He smiled. 

 

“I saw that you had a campfire going and me and my mom can't seem to get ours to start. Could one of your parents help us?” She asked. She said 'your parents’, assuming that since he was around her age, he wouldn't be building the fire himself. 

 

“Oh, yeah, sure.” He glanced around until his eyes rested on the package of firestarters nearby. He grabbed it and turned towards the two tents set up behind him. 

 

“Mom, I'm going to help them with their fire, okay?” He called. 

 

“Okay, Fox! Be good!” His mother called back from inside the tent. 

 

“Fox? That's your name?” Dana asked, a little amused. The boy, apparently named Fox, rolled his eyes. 

 

“I go by Mulder. It's my last name. I even try to make my parents call me that. It sounds better than Fox.” He told her. 

 

“Oh, okay. That makes sense.” She replied, even though it really didn't. “Well, I'm Dana. Dana Scully.” She told him as they walked back to her campsite. 

 

“Cool. I'm going to call you Scully.” 

 

“Why?” 

 

“Because it sounds cool. Cooler than Dana. Scully makes you sound like some awesome FBI agent or spy or something.” Fox replied, as if it made obvious sense. Dana said nothing in response, just kept walking. 

 

With Fox's help, Dana and her mother built a roaring campfire. 

 

“Fox-- I mean, Mulder… Do you want to stick around for a few minutes and hang out? I mean, in thanks for helping us?” Dana asked. Fox smiled and nodded. He took a seat in one of their extra chairs. Dana, looking for something to talk about, took a hint from his pajama shirt. 

 

“You like Star Trek?” She asked. Fox glanced down at his shirt. 

 

“Yeah, it's pretty cool. You?” 

 

“No, I've never really watched it. Aliens and space creatures aren't really my sort of thing.” She shrugged. Fox smiled. 

 

“What is your sort of thing, then?” 

 

“Science. It's always been my favorite subject at school, and it seems to have more evidence towards it than extraterrestrial life does.” 

 

“So, you don't believe in aliens?” Fox chuckled. “Come on, Scully, there's plenty of evidence.” 

 

“Such as?” Dana asked with a skeptical look. 

 

“Roswell, New Mexico!” Fox answered immediately. Clearly, he'd been questioned about this before. 

 

“So? There's no actual evidence. It's all theories. I'd have to see it to believe it.” She told him. Little did she realize, Fox was already scheming to “prove” to her that aliens were real. 

 

“Alright, fine. You want real evidence? Well, what about this campsite right here? This mountain has some pretty interesting stories to it.” 

 

“Stories of what? Mysterious flashing lights, floating objects, little green men walking around?” Dana rolled her eyes. “I'd have to see it to believe it.” She repeated. 

 

“Okay, but if you wake up because you hear a noise in the woods, don't say I didn't warn you.” Fox said, standing up. 

 

“Where are you going?” 

 

“Back to my campsite. I should really get in the tent before the aliens get here. I wouldn't want to get abducted or anything.” He said nonchalantly, a grin on his face. Dana just rolled her eyes as he walked away. 

 

That night, however, she began to have trouble sleeping. No amount of quiet meditation or deep breaths could calm her nerves long enough for her to fall asleep. Every rustle of the leaves made her nervous, every pair of headlights from a passing car making her flinch. Suddenly, she heard the snapping of a twig nearby, definitely caused by someone stepping on it. Dana stayed still, barely breathing, afraid to catch the attention of what could be an inhuman creature-- or a bear. Then the flashing lights started. Hadn't Fox said something about flashing lights? Tired and anxious, Dana's instincts took over and she scrambled out of the tent, running down the dirt path. The lights following her, she continued to run, even passing the campsite where Fox's family was. It wasn't until she heard boyish laughter that she stopped. 

 

“I can't believe it! You actually fell for it!” Came a familiar voice. Dana turned to see Fox standing there, holding a bright flashlight. She glared at him.

 

“That was horrible of you, Mulder!” She said. She was so mad at him, she didn't even know why she called him by his last name like he wanted. “That was so not funny!” 

 

“It was totally funny!” Fox grinned. “Come on, I'll walk you back to your tent… You said you didn't believe in aliens.” He mentioned as they walked. Dana gave him a playful shove. 

 

“I don't.”

 

“You were just running very fast and you didn't even realize it was just me.” He pointed out. 

 

“You were chasing me! Besides, I was anxious. And tired.” She protested.

 

“You were anxious about the aliens I told you about.” 

 

“I was not!”

 

“You were!” 

  
And so the argument continued until they reached her campsite. 


End file.
